12Basketball 89mie Daily Tar HeelFriday, November 17, 1989
Youlth movement roles a women reboild
By WARREN HYNES
Staff Writer
Youth, youth, youth.
For a college sports program, youth
is, without a doubt, a key to success.
Yet youth also takes time to develop
in confidence and skill. It's a test of
patience for the coaches, the players
and the fans. However, if cultivated
and developed with care and skill,
talented youth can harvest great suc
cess. Such is the case with this year's
women's basketball team.
The 1989-90 Tar Heel squad heads
into the new season with two-thirds
of its members freshmen and sopho
mores. They will be contributing at
every position and in every game.
Such contribution will be in even
greater demand now because of two
preseason injuries. Sophomore for
ward Dawn Bradley, a starter for all
of last season, and sophomore cen
terforward Terrie Condery, the team's
most improved player last year, are
both out for the entire season due to
reconstructive knee surgeries.
Six-foot-three junior Kim Oden
appears to be the starter at center.
Oden struggled last year, scoring 3.3
points per game. However, Oden has
made immense improvements in her
strength and fitness; she lost 15 pounds
during the offseason.
"She's doing well in practice,"
UNC head coach Sylvia Hatchell said.
"She's been very committed this year
to what she's doing. We're hoping
her success will continue."
The big forward position will be
occupied by 6-0 freshman Heather
Thompson and 5-11 sophomore
Kareema Williams. Thompson, a 23
point scorer in high school last year,
is a good inside player who uses her
body well. Williams has the poten
tial to be a powerhouse, according to
Hatchell.
"There are still a few things she's
to9mffiM)IIM god,
Sunday
Branch.
got to do," Hatchell said. "But she
could be unstoppable on the court."
The Tar Heels will struggle under
neath the boards, as there is not enough
depth inside. They will have to con
centrate their game plans instead on
the perimeter, where their talent is
considerable.
The small forward slot will be filled .
by two seniors and a sophomore.
Senior Sheri Anderson (5-8) aver
aged 9.3 points per game last year.
Senior Kellie Kennedy (5-9) aver
aged 3.6 points per game.
Sophomore LeAnn Kennedy (5
11) is a vital part of UNC's game
this year. She averaged 9.1 points
last year, with 5.4 rebounds per game.
Kennedy will probably have to play
inside as well as on the wing.
Last year's starting point guard,
Emily Johnson, returns to her slot
this year. Johnson, a 5-4 sophomore,
averaged 7.2 points per game and 4.3
assists last season. She will be joined
bv a host of other guards. Five-foot-
eight junior Tanya Lamb averaged
9.7 points per game and shot 31 per
cent from beyond the three-point line.
Sophomore Kelley Chastain (5-5) was
a walk-on last year who continues to
make herself better. Leigh Waddell,
a 5-6 junior transfer from Peace Col
lege, averaged 1 1 points as a sopho
more there.
And then there are the freshmen.
Her name is Toni Montgomery, and
she hails from Keenan High School
in Columbia, S.C. Montgomery (5
6) led the state in scoring last year.
"She's a Michael Jordan-type
player a lot of fun to watch," Hatch
ell said.
On defense, the Tar Heels will
have to make up for their lack of
height by playing a more physical
game. "We'll play man-to-man and
mm
r v;. -o
ill
UNC's youth movement will have to wait for Dawn Bradley
x 7
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presses," Hatchell said.
This type of defense is going to
take a tremendous amount of stam
ina and endurance on the part of UNC.
That's what Hatchell has been work
ing to build up by getting the players
to lower their weights and run, run
and run some more.
"They're in the best shape they've
probably ever been in," Hatchell said.
"I've been talking to them a lot about
commitment to what they're doing.
A lot of them have gone the second
mile."
The Atlantic Coast Conference,
in both women's and men's basket
ball, is one of the most dominant in
the nation.
"We could win every game out of
our conference and still be sixth,
seventh or eighth within our confer
ence," Hatchell said.
UNC's overwhelmingly young
group of players will obviously be
given ample time to build confidence
and skill. "Things can only get bet
ter," Hatchell said.
But "patience" is not a word that
automatically comes to mind when
talking to Hatchell.
"It's hard to be patient when you're
in the toughest conference in the na
tion," she said. "You want an instant
solution right away. You want in
stant production. It just doesn't hap
pen that way. What we have to do is
be patient They'll get there. It doesn't
happen overnight."
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